Hiiraan Online and Agencies
Friday, June 17, 2011
The transport minister for Somaliland, a self-declared republic, Mohamud Haashi said volcanic clouds have affected flights to the tiny nation, although the few domestic flights in the territory were minimally affected.
“The volcanic eruption in neighboring Eritrea instigated some form of fear over the last two days, luckily Somaliland was not affected badly. We have some problems with the town of Berbera where ashes have been gathering in the skies” Minister Haashi told the BBC Somali Service
“We are trying to monitor the situation on ground. There were no flights to and from neighboring Djibouti; however flights from our side to the Arab world were not affected”
The Minister said Somaliland’s ill-equipped and incapacitated air transport infrastructure can barely predict the atmosphere situation to allow normal airline operation to resume.
“We do not have adequate equipments and technology to predict the weather as of now, but the ministry of transport is trying its best to give some accurate information to the airline industry with the help of some partners” the minister said
Hargeisa had already suffered from a two-day flight disconnections from neighboring Djibouti, where the Eritrean eruption had a profound impact.
According to regional airline sources in much of the Horn and East Africa, flights are being delayed or even canceled already as the ash cloud drifts into the airlanes leading across the subcontinent, causing airlines to fly extensive detours, while others have reportedly canceled flights to Djibouti, Asmara, and even Addis Ababa.
Several airlines including Kenya’s national airline, Kenya Airways, said they had stopped flying to Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti and Ethiopia.
The eruption was registered on Sunday night and initially thought to be a local event, but soon it became evident that ash clouds were rising as high as 45,000 feet and began to drift across those parts of Eastern Africa frequented by aircraft flying at various altitudes between 37,000 and 41,000 feet enroute to and from Europe.
Located near the border with Ethiopia, the Nabro eruption was preceded by several earthquakes, where damages have not been assessed by the Eritrean authorities.